Welcome to the Observiews for Season 5 of Fringe. I call them Observiews because they are more visual observations than deep thinking reviews, if that makes sense.
Screen caps from this episode are taken from fringefiles.com. Dialog is from fringepedia.net.

All observations are mine and therefore could be totally off the wall and/or wrong. I have not read or looked at any recaps or reviews. I could also have missed a few things, oh well…

SECRETARY BISHOP: "Over time, she will reach a plateau, and her new identity will become fixed."

My consolation with this statement is that it didn't work. Olivia knew who she was, partly because of Peter's projection in her mind. Will there be help for Peter as...

Glyphs spelled: TRUST

As in Walter not trusting himself anymore? As in Peter's plan will work? As in trusting William Bell and what's in that storage facility? As in can Olivia still trust Peter? As in I don't trust Windmark.

The opening scene has the flair of Milo Stanfield from 3.03 The Plateau calculating his plan before it happens. I've compared it side by side with the current episode always on the left, 3.03 The Plateau on the right.

The taxi number is 5256. It is always good to pay attention to numbers and such. I'll get back to that.

Again, there are Etta posters everywhere.

Is that a white tulip?
And I love Peter's grin at the posters. Like he's saying: "this one's for you kiddo."

Supposedly Peter was out getting more laser fuel. He comes back with four tanks. To Walter he took too long and he didn't bring enough. Astird wanted to wait until after breakfast but Walter spurned her on.

OLIVIA: "You left without me. I wanted to go with you."
PETER: "It was so early. You were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you."

OLIVIA: "That's one way to put it. The other is that you didn't sleep again."

PETER: "That's true. I couldn't sleep. But I'm fine."

OLIVIA: "You need to sleep, Peter."

Peter, you can't keep lying to her. She knows something is wrong with you. Just give it up.

After a little interference from some loyalists snooping around outside the next tape is watched.

RECORDER WALTER: "This is Tape Five of my plan to defeat the Observers. This is what you must achieve next. These cylinders were designed by the invaders. They are Beacons that allow them to locate different points in spacetime. You will need two of them."

The beacon first appeared in 1.04 The Arrival, not really knowing much about them except that they are one piece, solid iritium, that emit subsonic vibrations at 2 MHz and then again at 4.

Peter needed to active it so September could find the right universe because the other Observers had hid it from him.

The cylinders can be found here at this building. Walter says he knows that building. It was a lab at Kelvin Genetics. Bell and Walter designed it.

The hallway leads to two yellow doors that lead to the private storage of William Bell. Access can be granted by Bell's hand prints.

Peter is looking more and more mechanical.

While Olivia is getting more frustrated with him not being honest. I think.

ASTRID: "Walter, that's why you took Bell's hand when we were freed from the Amber. You said that it was for a storage facility. It was for this."

WALTER: "So that's why he was with us in the Amber. I needed him to get the cylinders."

Apparently that wasn't the only reason.

ASTRID: "Well, before the invasion, you had been talking with Bell. He said that he wanted to help you defeat the Observers, that he realized how important this was. And then he betrayed us to gain favor with them." I knew it!
WALTER: "I do remember something about this. He came, and I trusted him. There was another man. He had an accent. I was being tortured. He kept asking me something. He kept asking... is it safe? Then I escaped, and Bell helped me. And then he drove me right back where I was being questioned. He worked for them. He worked for them!"

My first thought was the man with the accent is David Robert Jones but then...

Then Peter and Olivia share how they ended up where they got ambered. And how the Observers found them and that it only could have been Bell.

But we still don't know what Bell did to Olivia that made Walter so upset at the end of 4.19 Letters Of Transit. WALTER: "You remember what he did to Olivia. Even you can't be that compassionate."

WALTER: "Fire up the laser, Agnes. Let's get that hand out of Amber." Have no idea why Walter called her that.

So they go to the building where Bell's private storage is. This is the first shot we see in that scene.

The name on that vial looks like "Phillip" and the bottom one looks like "Bell".
The building was pretty damaged.

Those two piles of rubble are exactly the same (although a bit modified on the right). My former stage manager heart picked this up, always interested in how things are done.

Peter sees the doors the "Observer" way.

Olivia sort of questions that. Peter says from an engineering standpoint that's where they should be.

But what Olivia meant was Peter's ear. It's bleeding.

I wonder if there is too much pressure on his brain from all the information he is now processing. I was thinking back to 2.18 The Man From The Other Side. Peter got knocked out by the pressure from the harmonic vibrations created by Newton's device.

Walter wants to examine Peter when they get back to the lab.

Going to repeat myself but I don't care. Both Anna and Josh did amazing with their expressions. Josh is very good at "Observering", too good actually. Want Peter back and honestly, better not mess with Anna if she can give you these looks.

A few suggestions are made on how to enter the building, none of them good. Walter has a better idea. Why not go through it. But before Walter can explain further, Anil calls Peter. Something didn't go according to Peter's calculations. He asks Anil to wait, Peter is on his way.

Since Nina works for the Ministry of Science there is a chance she can help.

PETER: "Okay, you go talk to Nina. I have to meet up with Anil."

OLIVIA: "Why?"

PETER: "He didn't want to say over the comm, just that it was important. You've got that look on your face."
OLIVIA: "What look?"
PETER: "The look that says, I'm worried about you."

Yeah, like she believes you. She's not even reciprocating, Peter. Not even looking at you.

Pretty soon I think, Olivia's going to snap.

So on to seeing Nina.

NINA: "I never thought I would see you again."

Nina is genuinely happy to see Olivia. Second person who thought they wouldn't see her again. The first one being Peter in 5.01 Transilience Thought Unifier Model 11. PETER: "I never thought I'd see you again, Olivia."

Nina wanted to contact them but feared for their safety. Phillip kept her informed so she knows about Etta's death. Olivia says they didn't have a choice this time but to contact here because they need some tech that could help getting into the building. The Observers created a device that turns solid matter into gas form. The process is called Sublimation.

I was thinking back to 1.10 Safewhere a mathematical formula is used to weaken the structure of solid matter so someone can walk through a wall.

The alternate universe in 3.05 Amber 31422 had a more advance version that actually opened a hole in the wall moving the molecules off to the side (my reduced explanation).

Nina can help and will meet them at south side of the building.

Nina asks Walter if he is mad at her for telling Simon and Etta how to replant his brain and if he notices any changes.

WALTER: "The man I was before, he was consumed by ambition, by hubris. He never cared about anyone. All he cared about was walking with the gods. It's different this time. I’m different. I have Peter. He won't let me become that man again."

I was thinking back to 3.14 6B where Walter had a similar conversation with Nina. WALTER: "For a long time, I've been willing to think the worst of Walternate. That he was an evil man. Willing to use any means necessary to get what he needed. I suppose it made it easy to justify what I did. Now we're faced with the same decision. And I'm arguing that we do exactly what he did. What sort of person does that make me?"

I was also thinking back to 2.15 PeterCARLA WARREN: "I may go to church every Sunday, Walter, but I also have three degrees in theoretical physics, and I am telling you you cannot do this. We both know the amount of energy required to create a portal will forever ruin both universes. For the sake of one life, you will destroy the world. Some things are not ours to tamper with. Some things are God's."

WALTER: "My son is dying, Doctor Warren. I will not allow that to happen again. There's only room for one God in this lab, and it's not yours."

The other thing that just came to mind as I'm watching on the Science Channel is from 1.02 The Same Old Story. WALTER: "It's one of the inherent pitfalls of being a scientist - trying to maintain that distinction... between God's domain and our own."

Peter is meeting with Anil.
PETER: "There must be some variable you're forgetting. Tell me exactly what you saw - - every single detail."

Peter asks Anil what he forgot which quickly turns into what Peter missed.
PETER: "The variable. The one thing that I failed to see - - Royce on his comm."

Which brings me to 3.03 The Plateau again. Milo wanted to kill Olivia. He calculated her every step.

But he missed one fact. Olivia wasn't from the alternate universe so she reacted differently. MILO STANFIELD: "Oh, that wasn't supposed to happen."

So Peter might become an Observer but even they don't know everything. I was thinking about what September said to Walter in 3.10 The Firefly. OBSERVER: "There are things that I know. But there are things that I do not. Various possible futures are happening simultaneously. I can tell you all of them, but I cannot tell you which one of them will come to pass. Because every action causes ripples, consequences both obvious and... unforeseen."

Peter will be able to manipulate that situation. Peter can switch the briefcase at the restaurant where the Observer is heading to. He gives Anil an address.
PETER: "At exactly 6:17..."

Peter asks Anil to wait at that address. He liberates himself a ride and is headed to the restaurant to switch briefcases. As he is sitting in the car he has a seizure (for lack of a better word).

I'm assuming more changes are happening.

At the restaurant the Observers are enjoying a meal. Roast beef, jalapenos and pepper.

I was thinking back to 1.04 Arrival where September ordered that as he was waiting for the beacon to arrive.

The pepper by the way is an Alice in Wonderland reference. In the book there is a chapter about the cooks and how they need to add more pepper or someone put too much pepper on stuff. And I don't really know why they eat anything because...OBSERVER: "No, thank you. I wouldn't taste much anyway."

Olivia and Astrid are waiting in the van for Walter. Astrid takes the opportunity and inquires how Olivia and Peter are doing.

OLIVIA: "Peter doesn't sleep. He leaves the lab at all these odd hours."3.11 Reciprocity

OLIVIA: "And when he gets back, and I ask him where he's been, he's always got an explanation that - - that makes sense. But... I just think there's something he's not telling me. I can feel it."

ASTRID: "Well, he's been through a lot. I mean, you both have."
OLIVIA: "Yeah."
ASTRID: "I'm not defending Peter. I saw how isolated he made himself after ‘Etta went missing in The Invasion. I would say that, compared to that, he has come a long way."

And before it gets better it has to get worse... much worse.
The tech explains the rods to Astrid.
HASTINGS: "This baby has an event radius of up to one thousand meters. These rods, they mark the boundaries of whatever area you want to Sublimate."

I was thinking about 2.18 The Man From The Other Side again as Newton brought over a whole bridge.

And again in 3.08 Entradaas it was just one person, that of course was Fauxlivia going back

with these tiny rods.

NINA: "I'm worried about you, Walter. What you said earlier - - that Peter would keep you from becoming the man you used to be. I'm not sure that's enough. I knew the man you were - - you and William. You both tested the limits of science, of the universe. You felt that boundless power that comes with omnipotence. You felt what it was like to be God."

4.22 Brave New World Part 2WILLIAM BELL: "You were right, Walter. Walter, you were right, right, right. Every rant you ever went on made perfect sense. Suddenly, I understood not just you - but everything. (profound reflection) God made us in his image. If that is so, if we are capable of being Gods, then it is our destiny to do so... My dear friend, even if you deny it now, you have always been playing God. - - I am."

I totally agree that Bell is that arrogant. But I still don't believe what he said about Walter. I have hope that Walter, even with his brain restored, that he will not turn into his old self.

NINA: "Then you should know how hard I tried to hold on to William. How much I loved him. But that wasn't enough. I wasn't enough. Because nothing can compare to that feeling - - to that kind of power. So he let me go."

3.12 Concentrate And Ask AgainNINA: "William and I... we also had a complicated relationship. If there's one thing I regret, it's that we never honestly acknowledge how we felt about each other."

WALTER: "The reason you couldn't hold onto him is because he never loved you. He never loved anyone except himself. I've been fooled by him too many times to think anything else. I know better, and so should you."

Wow Walter, that's pretty harsh.
NINA: "You asked me before if I saw him in you. I just did. The Walter I know would never say anything so cruel. But the Walter who lay on an operating table in William's laboratory, begging to have pieces of his brain removed, for fear of what he would become, he would."

So that statement by Nina confuses me. She's basically saying she knows the crazy Walter, right? Well then she's not the only one who likes the crazy version better. I for one as well and Olivia.2.10 Grey MattersOLIVIA: "I don't mean to sound callous, but... from what I know of your father, going crazy made him a better person. It certainly made him a better father."

I was so excited when I saw that and laughed so hard and loud. And then in the next instant I started crying because I thought that this is how everything started and that it will end soon. So sad!
Back at the former lab building, the team is setting up the rods. Peter rejoins the group. Just as Peter arrives, Anil calls him with the results. The Observers are distracted and occupied.

Olivia is onto Peter again.

OLIVIA: "So what did Anil want?"

PETER: "I waited for him for over an hour - - he didn't show. That was him calling to let me know that he got stopped at a checkpoint."

OLIVIA: "Did he tell you why he wanted to meet?"

PETER: "No."

Peter, really?

One more incident, Peter and that's it. You should know her better.

The green and red lights are ever present!

The tech from Nina opens the door, so to speak.

Which just made me think of 2.12 What Lies Below. WALTER: "You see, when you open new doors, there is a price to pay."

After Peter powers up the scanner, Walter uses Bell's hand to get access.

We know that Walter cut the hand off from Bell in 4.19 Letters Of Transit. At the end of 5.01 Transilience Thought Unifier Model 11 Walter doesn't remember that he cut it out because Windmark messed with his mind. ASTRID: "You said we needed his handprint so we could get access to one of his storage facilities."

Down in the storage Walter finds one of his records.
WALTER: "Belly, you monster! ... My Bowie... he stole it. It's not enough that he institutionalized me, betrayed our friendship, but he pilfered my record collection as well!"

Walter knows the safe. It was an extra measure that Bell took to keep the most valuable things safe. Bell always used the same combination because he had terrible memory as a result of too much LSD. Well, Walter, what about you?
Now it's up to Walter to remember the combination.

But he can't remember.

Come on Walter, you had no problem remembering it in 4.19 Letters Of Transit.

Sorry, jumping the gun.
Olivia is getting impatient because the Observers could be there any minute. She doesn't know about Peter's distraction. So Peter is trying to focus Walter.
PETER: "Clear your head, Walter. Try to relax. Think about the cylinders. You have all the time in the world."

It worked. Walter remembered. The combination is 5 20 10It was the combination to the lock at the day care center in 2.14 Jacksonville.

It was also the air date for 2.22 Over There Part 2. Then again it was a safe combination in 3.12 Concentrate And Ask Again.

There are a few items in the safe. For one, this device.

And the other was this.

Earlier Walter said that Bell didn't love Nina. I think Walter now knows that he was wrong.

In that episode the beacon was created by Walter. The Observers (or Watchers, as Nina called them) worked for Nina (or was it William Bell?) and were convinced by Walter to help him. Will this have any implications? And speaking of 2.19 Brown Betty, Peter almost died and Olivia came to the rescue. Was this a foreshadowing as well?

It is time to leave that area. Peter just runs by Olivia who cautions him to be careful. But again she doesn't know that the Observers are otherwise occupied.
PETER: "I'll take my car. It's logical that we split up."

Split was the glyphs for last week's episode, Peter. This week is TRUST, remember!

Urgh, this is killing me. I really hope that there will be a happy ending for those two. Although it doesn't look so good right now. And logical - my foot. What happened to... 5.05 An Origin StoryPETER: "Then we have to do this. And we can, Olivia. Together."

WALTER: "I asked Olivia to bring me back because I wanted to give you this. It was in William's safe. I was wrong. He did love you. And it wasn't enough."

NINA: "No..."
WALTER: "I'm scared, Nina. Every day that goes by, I feel him more and more. I'm losing myself. I'm becoming the man I was. And just like before, everyone that I care about will be driven away and will suffer because of me. I need you to take them out... It's perfectly safe. My intellect may be diminished slightly, but it's the only way to hold on to the man I've become. Please, Nina... You must remove these pieces of my brain."

Ugh, Walter. Not you as well. I'm going to borrow this from 3.22 The Day We Diedalbeit a bit modified.

ME: "Walter. It's not too late. You can save yourself, Peter and the world from the Observers. We can do it all over again. This time, since you know you are changing, you -- you simply need to make a different choice. And should something go wrong, then Olivia will be our fail-safe."Is this what it comes down to, both Bishops out of commission so Olivia can be what she was programmed for - to save the world?

I was thinking back to 3.16 Os. Peter had shown Olivia his secret work on the shapeshifters.

He was the one who killed them. And just before Olivia could really react to that revelation she was otherwise "occupied", quite literally by William Bell.
Here and finally Peter reveals his plan but the outcome for Olivia and Peter isn't really any better.
Peter explains that these are timelines for Windmark's top Lieutenants. He sort of knows where they are and is tracking their moves.

PETER: "The tech that gave them their advantage over us... I have it now."

OLIVIA: "That thing in their heads - - you implanted one in yourself?"

PETER: "I've been following them. They don't know where I am, but I know where they are. Today, yesterday, and the day before that. It gives me enough information to determine their probable futures. Mueller was going to get in a town car and be late to the meeting. Royce would have left. I needed them there at the same time. I made that happen."

Peter is very mechanical, robotical (if that's a word) now.
OLIVIA: "What have you done?"

That question means more than just "what method did you use." I think Olivia meant more like: "Peter, have you thought about the consequences of having this device in you. Can't you see what it is doing to you already?"

PETER: "I used a toxin from Walter 's cold storage, the flesh-eating toxin that killed everyone aboard Flight 6-2-7. Our first Fringe experience... was their last."

Earlier I said it's always good to pay attention to numbers and such. I said in the Observiews that it looked unique, interesting and such. At first I thought this might have been the clue. But now looking at the numbers more closely, I thought it meant Glatterflug 627 but the numbers don't match.

Well that sucks, never mind then.
OLIVIA: "That's why you knew that they wouldn't be coming for us at the storage site. You knew that they would still be responding to your attack."

And now Peter does it with Olivia.
PETER: "We're going to avenge ‘Etta. Windmark is next."

I don't know but I think Olivia doesn't agree with the method.

And then she does something that totally surprised me. She just left. And quickly at that as well.

Peter, did you not see? Your wife just left. Where is she going? You're supposed to say...1.03 The Ghost NetworkPETER: "Hey! Where you going?"

Ugh!
Walter isn't doing any better. He's back at the lab looking at his treasures collected so far.

He's got the beacon, the Thought Unifier, a few rocks and the transmitter. The only thing not there is the tube. Etta handed that to Broyles in 5.04 The Bullet That Saved The World.

Walter picks up the transmitter and turns it on. There now is a light and it hums. Is it because of the beacon?

Walter turns on his turntable to listen to the record he retrieved from Bell's storage.

Astrid is endearing to Walter.

Meanwhile, Peter is continuing to work on his plan .

Walter is zoning out. Gene is still watching over him.

Also Walter is surrounded by the haze. Giving us an inside maybe on how hopeless he feels.

Back to Peter. He is losing his hair.

How far gone is he?

Will Peter's plan work in their favor and will he be able to keep control? Will he remember those that love him? If Walter would be able to remove that tech, is it going to kill him, like it did the Observer?

OTHER OBSERVATIONS
On the timeline Peter records a few oddities about the Observers.

The main color of this episode seemed to have been "yellow".
It was mentioned in diolog:
"Two yellow doors"
"if it turns yellow, you're good"
Then there were the visable ones
at the former lab

The building where Anil is waiting

The girl with the yellow ball

Peter used a yellow marker

We know that the color yellow isn't really Olivia's favorite. Always reminds her of medicine. This episode kind of left a "bitter taste in her mouth". What will Peter's behavior mean for them? I know I've used a lot of emotional shots today. I guess I want to show that without honestly portraying them, the story does not seems real or honest. I believe in every expression that the actors convey. To me it shows that they are actually thinking what they want us to believe they are thinking. It is a rare gift and this cast got it down.

I second that ! MOOOOOOOOOOOOO !By the way, have you read that issue of Fringe which describes one ( eventful ) night with Gene alone in the lab ? Totally silly, but fun at the same time ! ( It ends with Gene absolutely WRECKING the lab, and Peter, who has to clean the mess, claims he suddenly wants an hamburger !!! )

Lccf, no I have not ready that. The only comic I read is the one that came with S 4 DVD.

On a different note, I was watching 3.03 Fracture last night. Colonel Gordon wants to eliminate those who bring information to the Observers. "The Briefcases". In them we see information about Walter. Gordon says that what's in those briefcase can "destroy us all." I think he got it wrong. The Observers are collecting data because I think they know what's in those briefcases can destroy them. So back to 52010:In the beginning we see Peter trying to figure out his game plan. Later in the show we see three Observers meeting, each carrying a briefcase. Before they get to discuss what's in them, they get blown up. What if... there is a connection between 2.03 Fracture and this?

cortexifan, I haven't seen Fracture for quite some time, but IIRC, the villain of the episode claimed he did what he did because he thought that the Observers were dangerous spies ... and the turn of events seems to indicate he was right, wasn't he ? I doubt the writers were planning that much ahead, but they sure could revisit Fracture now. Was the so-called "science team" really a vanguard for Windmark and his goons, as was claimed in Fracture ? Or was their work "hijacked" by the invaders ? September wasn't a willing accomplice of the invaders, but what about the others ( I don't like that December guy ) ?

Yeah that's why he did it but what if the villain got it all wrong though? What if the Observers collected that data because they knew that one day Walter could destroy them? What if (and since he is capable now) Peter recognized that and is trying to prevent them now from getting more info on them. I don't know, it just hit me as I was watching last night.And I don't know if they were planning that far ahead or if they looked back. It still is cool how things come back though, seemingly unimportant at first but then...

Oh, I understand better what you meant now. Well, if the Observers were afraid Walter could thwart the invasion, why just spy on him ? Why not kill him ? And would they have allowed September to interact that often with the Bishop family, knowing that there was a risk he could grow fond of them ? I know, an Observer is not supposed to have feelings anyway, but after what happened with August, you could argue that they now knew an Observer COULD love, and would have been more cautious with any relation that could exist with humans ...I'm not exactly disagreeing with you, but I'm still trying to figure out how the Baldies' minds work ... I guess it will be a little more clear when (if) someone from the science team returns ...

Wow is all I have to say about your post. There’s so much about this show that you have to pay attention to in order for it all to make sense and you seem to have a firm grip on it all. You just never know with Dancing with the Stars so I’ve always got my DISH Hopper recording the new episodes each week and thanks to PrimeTime Anytime it does it automatically on the big four networks. Since this is the final season of Fringe, I don’t want to miss anything. The idea that Peter may become an Observer is kind of frightening. My DISH co-worker has her own theories on what exactly the ending will be for this season but I don’t dare to speculate. I’m just said that it’s all coming to an end.

September is the exception to the Observer rule. He learned love from Walter, Olivia, Peter and Astrid. He is the pivotal character in the saga. August was starting to flip too. September, if allowed, will change the entire 27th century that Windmark represents. September is the Neo to their rise of the machines. My bet is that Windmark knows all about the lab and team residing there. He let Peter escape with the embedded head tech for a reason - one reason - this whole thing with the science team is to give them just enough leash to let them lure September back into the fold. A grand design to capture and/or kill and/or crucify Observer public enemy number one - September.

Suggesting that September and Windmark are on the same team seems silly. Nothing has been seen, said, done, suggested, implied or construed that would put the two guys in cahoots. That's like saying they are both guilty because they have the same barber (okay. bad example. but you get my drift).

September returns, we Natives get our planet back, Observers return to their timezone or perish, and Peter gets his tech removed because September knows how. Olivia has had it with Peter so she beats feet to alts-ville to hook-up with Lincoln. Walter returns to St Claire's because he missed the butterscotch pudding and Astrid, she gets the spin-off show "Farnsworth P.I." (with sidekick Gene)

DocH, your theory about luring September in the open is an interesting one, even if, by the look of it, I'd guess Windmark let Peter have the Observer tech because he, as leader of the Observers, can somehow "hijack" it and bend Peter to his will, so he could have a mole in the resistance ... so why bother looking for the lab ?Few things are clear, but if one is, it's that September and Windmark are absolutely not on the same page, and I don't think anyone exactly suggested that, but you can wonder about the other eleven guys from the science team ( well, ten, because August was - is ? - a nice guy too ) : did they know about the invasion and knowingly prepared it ? Or were they naive pawns, like September was ?